The invention relates to a system and method for performing dispute resolution via the Internet.
Dispute resolution is a method by which parties can resolve or settle their disagreements without the use of the court system or to facilitate and expedite the process when using the court system. There are many varieties of dispute resolution available to conflicting parties such as mediation and arbitration. The results of the dispute resolution can be, depending on the wishes of the parties, binding on the parties so as to avoid the need for future litigation on the same issues. Due to its limiting and often conclusive effect on claims, dispute resolution has become an integral part of the settlement of disputes and claims between parties over the years. It is often viewed as a preferable alternative to costly litigation or as a valued supplement to such litigation.
Traditionally, dispute resolution has been performed in offices and meeting rooms, with or without counsel present, and in the presence of at least one moderator who may or may not have the power to settle the dispute or determine issues. The variances being due in large part to the method of dispute resolution chosen by the parties. Often the formalities of motion practice and rules of evidence are suspended in an effort to ensure that all necessary information is presented in an expedited manner and that a fair determination of the issues is achieved. Despite its informal nature, though, dispute resolution generally requires a substantial amount of preparation and often necessitates the assistance and advice of legal counsel if the issues involved are complex. Due to this, it is often an unwieldy tool for the settlement of relatively small claims where the parties are adamant about their respective positions but would rather not spend too much time or money to make them.
Another disadvantage of traditional dispute resolution is that it tends to be geared toward resolving legal disputes involving legal arguments heard by legal decision-makers, such as judges and magistrates. These arguments and decision-makers may be of little or no value in resolving ethical, moral, and/or emotional disputes, though. Increasingly, disputes of these types are being resolved by a legal system that is ill-equipped to handle them, and often the resolution of such disputes prevents the courts from handling true legal questions, in a timely manner.
What is desired, therefore, is a system for performing dispute resolution that enables parties to present their issues to a customized decision maker and receive a determination in a short amount of time at a reasonable price. Providing such a dispute resolution system that operates over the Internet with interaction from Internet users is also desired.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for performing dispute resolution via the Internet.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for performing dispute resolution that allows users to submit issues, view active and closed issues, and vote on the best way to resolve active issues.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system and method for dispute resolution that allows users to submit issues for determination to only a select group of people having specific qualifications chosen by the user.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by provision of a system and method for performing dispute resolution that operates over the Internet. The system comprises a computer, a communications link between the computer and the Internet and an active issue database, accessible by the computer, containing a plurality of issue files and corresponding voting forms. The system also includes issue presentation software executing on the computer for retrieving issue files and corresponding voting forms from the active issue database and presenting the issue files and corresponding voting forms to users over the communications link. The system further includes vote processing software executing on the computer for receiving the completed voting forms submitted by users over the communications link, updating the issue files in the active issue database to reflect the completed voting forms, and presenting vote tallies to users over the communications link.
Preferably, the system also includes software operating on a computer for authenticating and registering users of the system, receiving and processing issues submitted by users over the communications link, permitting users to search and select issues in the databases, and limiting voting on certain issues to user""s who meet specified voting qualifications.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a method for performing dispute resolution over the Internet.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system for performing dispute resolution over the Internet in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic of the authentication and registration process of the dispute resolution system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic of the issue submission and issue presentation processes of the dispute resolution system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a schematic of the voting process of the dispute resolution system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a schematic of the search process of the dispute resolution system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the system operation in accordance with a specific embodiment of the dispute resolution system.